Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships

With population and traffic congestion growing in urban areas throughout the United States, the demand for passenger rail service is also growing. The opportunity exists to minimize environmental and social impacts of expanding rail transit by sharing existing corridors with freight rail operators.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate existing agreements between freight and passenger rail services and identify issues, challenges, and best practices of shared-use corridors. This research included an analysis of the existing literature, in-depth interviews with national experts, and in-depth interviews with local area experts in three case study cities with substantial experience in shared-use rail corridors: Boston, Chicago, and Denver.

Presentations and Publications

Minn, Michael. 2020. "Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships: Annotated Bibliography." http://michaelminn.net/rail-partnerships/bibliography/index.html.

Minn, Michael, Andrew Goetz, Sylvia Brady, and Keith Ratner. 2017. Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships (Summary Report). Presented at the 2017 Transportation Research Forum, Chicago, IL.

Minn, Michael, Andrew Goetz, Sylvia Brady, and Keith Ratner. 2017. Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships (Summary Report) http://michaelminn.net/geography/rail-partnerships/2017-trb-summary-report/2017-07-24-summary-report.pdf.

Minn, Michael, Andrew Goetz, Sylvia Brady, Keith Ratner, and Andrew Ryder. 2017. Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships. Session at the 2017 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.

• Michael Minn (Eastern Washington University): Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships
• Sylvia Arriaga Brady and Andrew R. Goetz (The University of Denver): Passenger and freight rail partnerships in shared-use corridors: A Denver case study
• Keith A. Ratner (Salem State University): Sharing Rail Corridors in the Boston Region, A Case Study of Cooperation
• Julie Cidell (The University of Illinois): The shared corridors and complexities of passenger and freight rail in the Chicago region.
• Discussant: Andrew Ryder (The University of Portsmouth, UK)

Minn, Michael, Andrew Goetz, Sylvia Brady, and Keith Ratner. 2016. "Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships: Case Studies in Boston, Chicago, and Denver (Final Report)." https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/39852.

Minn, Michael, Andrew Goetz, Sylvia Brady, and Keith Ratner. 2016. "Case Studies in Passenger Rail and Freight Rail Partnerships (Preliminary Report)." Presented at the 2016 American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA. http://michaelminn.net/rail-partnerships/2016-aag/2016-rail-partnerships-aag.pdf.